Read our Zenefits review to determine if this is the right HRIS software for your company's needs
As an all-in-one solution within the human resource (HR) tech industry, Zenefits offers organizations with a HRIS platform centered on benefits administration and created to support any business’s ever-changing HR-related needs. Using a user-friendly interface with a comprehensive benefits offering, Zenefits makes it easier for human resource managers and administrators to manage employee documents, HR, benefits, payroll, time and attendance, and simplifies other HR functions into one program.
In this Zenefits review, HRD will look into Zenefits’s various features and HR solutions and its ‘complete HR platform’ that streamlines your HR workflow, enables your business to automate compliance tasks, improves employee experience, improves productivity, reduces errors, and lessens time spent on low-priority tasks. We will also help you understand how Zenefits uses its various features to navigate through the norm of the digital workplace model.
Zenefits review: What is Zenefits?
Zenefits is a human resource support software that allows businesses to streamline various HR-related functions such as talent acquisition, hiring and onboarding, benefits management, payroll management, paid time-off (PTO) and other related leave benefits and scheduling, compliance management, compensation reporting, as well as digitizing data entries through their scanning software.
Based on their experience working with over 30,000 small and midsize businesses, Zenefits helps businesses to look at themselves and maximize business results through optimizing workforce productivity with its simple HR-centric platform.
Zenefits review: Features
Great HR solutions, simple yet engaging benefits and payroll management technology, feature-rich and mobile friendly interface: these are some of the features and capabilities that Zenefits provides its customers.
Throughout the whole employee life cycle, Zenefits and its newly-created People Ops (POPS) manage and handle key HR functions including payroll, recruitment, employee engagement, talent management, performance management, and other core HR operations.
A few of the features that Zenefits also provides are:
- Human resource (HR) administration
- Onboarding
- Compensation management
- Performance management
- Time and scheduling
- People enablement
- Recruiting
- People analytics
- Advisory services
- Payroll administration
- Reporting
- Tax and Filing (Compliance management)
- Benefits administration
Does Zenefits do payroll?
Yes, Zenefits helps small to midsize businesses to manage their payroll. However, Zenefit does not only do payroll management. Using Zenefits’s all-in-one platform, employers can simplify various HR-related functions and processes into one single area such as talent acquisition, employee database and archival, record management, benefits and payroll management, reporting and data visualization, time and scheduling tracking, compliance assistance, and other relevant HR processes.
Who uses Zenefits?
Trusted by over 400,000 employees worldwide, Zenefits offers its comprehensive HR support services to its small to midsize businesses and their employees — seeking the power and flexibility of a holistic HR platform that needs to manage all of their HR functions such as payroll, benefits, taxes, stock options, insurance, compliance, onboarding, filing and automated recruitment, and tracking attendance and vacations.
Originally catered to insurance brokers and their employees, Zenefits now cater to a myriad of businesses in different industries, such as, but not limited to:
- Transportation
- Marketing agencies
- Financial services
What companies use Zenefit?
Some of the well-known small to midsize businesses and organizations who uses Zenefits include:
- DocNetwork
- Chae Manufacturing
- Ryleigh Wealth Management
- Millan Enterprises
- Social27
- Alaska Luxury Tours
- Squirrels LLC
- StableStrides
- Brad’s Deals
- Emtrain
Is Zenefits reliable?
Yes, Zenefits is considered one of the most reliable HR support software in the HR tech market and we have not found any reports of major outages. From its intuitive, user-friendly platform, its streamlined workflow and features, its centralized organization, and its affordability, Zenefits are worth checking out to solve your HR-related needs if you are on a limited budget.
On high-tier plans, Zenefits allows you to use premium features that you can add to allow businesses to become more reliable and integral to your HR needs. Zenefits also aims to help employees with various programs for working parents.
Does Zenefits track your location?
Yes, Zenefits does track your location when using their mobile app — but only if it is enabled. Zenefits’ Time & Attendance gives HR administrators the option to share an employee’s location whenever they are clocking in or out through their mobile device.
If geolocation tracking is enabled, administrators cannot block employees from clocking in within a certain radius (geofencing) and employees are not forced to share their location and will not be blocked from clocking in or out in the mobile app.
How much does Zenefits cost?
Zenefits allows for a multi-level plan based on the features you want to use:
- Their Essential base plan costs $10 per month per employee, providing all the necessary features that Zenefits provide. This includes automated onboarding, employee management, time off tracking, scheduling, integrations, mobile app, and analytics dashboards.
- Their Growth plan, costing $20 per month per employee, includes every feature included in their Essentials base plan including configurable people analytics, compensation management, and performance management features.
- Their Zen plan, costing $27 per month per employee, includes every feature included in their Growth plan including employee engagement and people hub integration features.
How does Zenefits work?
Through its simple and user-friendly online platform, Zenefits allows employers to manage the relevant HR functions in a click of a button in its all-in-one HR software. Using its automatically integrated HR system, Zenefits syncs seamlessly across Benefits, HR, Time and Scheduling and Payroll.
Its mobile app allows employees to access their information at anytime. Other than mobile-friendly user interfaces, Zenefits allows employers to integrate dozens of business productivity and HR applications that any businesses wants to use, allowing these businesses to cater to and fit Zenefits to the needs of their business without compromising how they do their business.
Zenefits review: Company Overview
Founded in 2013 by Parker Conrad and Laks Srini, HR tech start-up Zenefits was poised to be Silicon Valley’s HR solution for benefits management. Helping start-ups and small businesses, Zenefits manages employee benefits with its varying features and its insurance quotes advisory services (including but not limited to commuter and flexible spending, 401(k) support). Within three years of operations, Conrad built Zenefits to become one of the best HRIS platforms in the HR tech industry — valuing at around 4.5 billion US dollars at 2016.
Headquarters address: 50 Beale St., San Francisco 94105, California, United States
Year established: 2013
Number of employees: 500+ employees as of 2019
Office locations: Tempe, Florida, United States, Bangalore, India
Key people: Jay Fulcher (CEO, President), Kevin Marasco (Chief Marketing Officer), Issac Vaughn (Chief Operating Officer), Souvik Das (Chief Technology Officer), Rajiv Bagora (Vice President, Engineering), Jeff Hazard (Vice President, Sales), Didi D’Errico (Vice President, Communications), Andrea Shannon (Senior Director of Business Development), Xochil Arkin (General Counsel, Vice President, Legal), Lisa Reeves (Chief Product Officer), Teresa DeHaven (Chief Compliance Officer), Shaun Wiley (Chief Financial Officer)
Who acquired Zenefits?
Zenefits was acquired by tech private-equity firm Francisco Partners, and its subsidiary TriNet, acquired Zenefits in a financing deal in March 2021.
Did Zenefits have compliance issues? What happened?
Yes. Although the controversy with regards to compliance issues investigated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, California Department of Insurance, and Massachusetts Division of Insurance are still in the minds of insurance brokers, Zenefits is still operating under the leadership of Jay Fulcher and Francisco Partner’s TriNet.
These issues were related to fundraising for the company and are not a reflection of the software.
Who are the competitors of Zenefits?
In an ever-changing digital landscape, HR tech solutions and platforms have transformed towards automation and people-centric developments. Although Zenefits is a well-known HR software for insurance brokers, there are other competitors in the business support industry that can be a better fit to your HR support needs, such as:
Zenefits review: Will this HRIS platform work for you?
Despite the controversies surrounding their quick growth and the compliance issues that Zenefits used to be embroiled under, Zenefits had resolved to become one of the pioneers of HR support tech platforms for insurance brokers and their employees.
Throughout the years, Zenefits have adapted toward the ever-changing HR technological landscape — from traditional towards hybrid and/or remote work models. If you are looking for a holistic HR platform that can be easily navigated and is feature-rich in answer to the various HR functions that your business needs in an all-in-one platform, Zenefits is the solution for you.
If you still require more assistance, or want to learn more about HRIS platforms, you can read our guide to what you need to know about HRIS software.
Do you have any experience using the Zenefits platform? Share your feedback in the comments box below.